A part of the Kafka task people seem to forget is that each time racers made a guess they had to fill out a long form (an allegory to Kafka's bureaucratic nightmare), the task was designed to cause confusion.

Some people might find it easy and not distracting at all as a viewer, but as a racer, that will be stressful enough to make them confused (include the loud stamping of three big red X's and scary serious men at the side)

And the constantly ringing telephones in the background.

add also the food and sleep deprivation, as well as being constantly jetlagged by god how many hours :/

A part of the Kafka task people seem to forget is that each time racers made a guess they had to fill out a long form (an allegory to Kafka's bureaucratic nightmare), the task was designed to cause confusion.

Some people might find it easy and not distracting at all as a viewer, but as a racer, that will be stressful enough to make them confused (include the loud stamping of three big red X's and scary serious men at the side)

And the constantly ringing telephones in the background.

The task was definitely designed to mess with the team members' minds. Only Meghan excelled at it.

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

Exactly.. i saw the route and was like.. TAR used to be 1 new country/location for one episode. Now we're getting 2 India, 2 Australia and 2 China this season?

That's like half the season and only 3 countries? And it doesn't help that India and China has been so overly, heavily used for the past 392428409848 seasons.

Not forgetting that the last episode is in the USA. And i remembered it used to be such a big thing for TAR to visit new locations and they'll keep the route a secret.. now they don't even care and seemed to be focusing more on team dynamics.

I think the emphasis this time around was having the sort of backdrops that would shine in HD. Second, for some of the countries used, there are so many distinct regions or areas than the fact the Race has been to some areas or regions of China, or India, doesn't mean there usn't a lot of new things to see. Compare the Races that have been to Beijing, Shanghai, Bangkok, Mumbai, Rio; and even Southern California (which is probably the only area that may have been mined to death).

There's also the consideration of safety in filming, some countries aren't as prudent to film in right now as they may have been a decade ago and that also influences destinations.

Exactly.. i saw the route and was like.. TAR used to be 1 new country/location for one episode. Now we're getting 2 India, 2 Australia and 2 China this season?

That's like half the season and only 3 countries? And it doesn't help that India and China has been so overly, heavily used for the past 392428409848 seasons.

Not forgetting that the last episode is in the USA. And i remembered it used to be such a big thing for TAR to visit new locations and they'll keep the route a secret.. now they don't even care and seemed to be focusing more on team dynamics.

Joab,For not the first time I will express a starkly different attitude than you. Yes, AR18 is revisiting Australia, India and China. Here is the land area of those countries:

Russia is the world's largest country in area, Canada is a surprising (to me) second, China 3rd, US 4th, Brazil 5th, Australia 6th, India 7th. I personally have been on a huge arc through China by rail, most of India by rail and just a small 300 mile stretch of the northeastern Queensland Coast by bus. The list of interesting sights that have not yet been visited by any Amazing Race in those countries are astounding. Here are a few examples with the largest population:

Plus there are many smaller cities that provide reasons for amazing Races to visit. Having the Amazing Race visit those countries instead of a new country is perfectly OK with me. The fact that AR18 only adds Liechtenstein to the list of countries visited by amazing Races is not at all a disappointment to me as long as the places that are visited are interesting.

I expect AR18 visits to Broken Hill, Ljjiang, Varanasi, and Zermatt to be very interesting. Of that group, I have only been to Varanasi and Zermatt but can assure all AR18 viewers that both are fascinating places. So, I suggest that the country list may now be an obsolete yardstick by which to measure the variety of Amazing Race routes. You should look beyond the country list and examine the details ow where a race actually goes.

While it does seem like TAR visits India, China, and Australia a lot, there are diverse locations in these areas as apskip stated. TAR18 did choose some off-the-beaten-path locations in these countries. At least it seems that way to me.

Exactly.. i saw the route and was like.. TAR used to be 1 new country/location for one episode. Now we're getting 2 India, 2 Australia and 2 China this season?

That's like half the season and only 3 countries? And it doesn't help that India and China has been so overly, heavily used for the past 392428409848 seasons.

Not forgetting that the last episode is in the USA. And i remembered it used to be such a big thing for TAR to visit new locations and they'll keep the route a secret.. now they don't even care and seemed to be focusing more on team dynamics.

Joab,For not the first time I will express a starkly different attitude than you. Yes, AR18 is revisiting Australia, India and China. Here is the land area of those countries:

Russia is the world's largest country in area, Canada is a surprising (to me) second, China 3rd, US 4th, Brazil 5th, Australia 6th, India 7th. I personally have been on a huge arc through China by rail, most of India by rail and just a small 300 mile stretch of the northeastern Queensland Coast by bus. The list of interesting sights that have not yet been visited by any Amazing Race in those countries are astounding. Here are a few examples with the largest population:

Plus there are many smaller cities that provide reasons for amazing Races to visit. Having the Amazing Race visit those countries instead of a new country is perfectly OK with me. The fact that AR18 only adds Liechtenstein to the list of countries visited by amazing Races is not at all a disappointment to me as long as the places that are visited are interesting.

I expect AR18 visits to Broken Hill, Ljjiang, Varanasi, and Zermatt to be very interesting. Of that group, I have only been to Varanasi and Zermatt but can assure all AR18 viewers that both are fascinating places. So, I suggest that the country list may now be an obsolete yardstick by which to measure the variety of Amazing Race routes. You should look beyond the country list and examine the details ow where a race actually goes.

I do know that China and India are one of the world's biggest countries in terms of land mass and that it is inevitable the race keeps visiting them because of the many unexplored locations by WRP.

I'm happy that they're no longer visiting the main capitals/cities of India/China.. but i do want to see more other countries being explored, like Cambodia/Taiwan (please don't start a discussion about whether Taiwan is considered a country or not) and The Philippines. They've only been there once!

New locations are good as long as they're not being re-used by the race over and over again. But i'm just saddened by the fact that it's always China (because of the language barrier = GOOD TV) and India (because of the people, the culture shock = GOOD TV). There are other countries and locations that will bring about language barrier and cultural shock as well.. if you know what i'm talking about.

I'd love new countries too...but that is a finite list due to politics, safety, etc.

New LOCATIONS on the other hand are infinite for our purposes!!

Logged

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

I hate those teams in ep1 who helped each other. esp Kent & Vyxsin, Flight time and Big easy.

It's so not fair. the flags task. it is supposed to be a time consuming and 'use your brain' task. not 'use your mouth' !

It's ok to give each other a little bit help on the route or task info (that shows what friends do and genuine care) , but not telling the answer completely!

They are just using each other ! Don't fake to be friends when in the end you still need to race against each other.

I would like to see a clean and positive race! It's negative already ! I think its even ok sometimes to play dirty like Rob and Amber (although i find them disgusting!) . Work independently and get help from a third party using your personal charm and effort and even money!

I hope those teams in ep 1 will eventually hate and u-turn each other.

So far, my favorite season is 16. I guess lots of people hate that season because they think most of the teams are dumb.

it is the only season i see teams work independently (except the only time joe and heidi holding spots for the lesbians. )